heh.. this is my second time typing this out since my pup thought it would be fun to jump into my lap/on my notebook!

My daughter has a 3 year old siberian husky who is obese. Her name is Kira. They changed her food to a weight management formula from Acana and now to a high protein/less carb formulation. She gets fed about a cup twice a day.

The vet did some blood tests and found her thyroid was out of whack so put her on medication over a year ago. It has made no difference to this girl however! It has only made her lethargic rather then playful. My daughter is thinking of stopping the medication because it doesn't seem to be making any difference.

I should also mention my daughter is horrible at walking (or should I say not walking) the dog. She doesn't get that much exercise.

There's no magic pill or food that's going to fix this problem...the dog needs exercise, pure and simple. I'll bet $20 that the pup is also getting treats, scraps all day too, am I right? That needs to stop cold turkey. This is common sense, not a medical problem.

ETA: please remind your daughter that she is ensuring that her dog is going to live a short life, and probably be riddled with disease by the time she goes (heart, diabetes, liver, kidney, joints etc etc.) Obesity is just as serious for dogs as it is people.

I agree with BenMax and bendyfoot about the exercise needs of a siberian husky. We have one now (he's 5 yr this month) and had two previously and they are high energy dogs. And, as BenMax said, their minds have to be exercised as well.

Has your daughter gone back to the vet to get Kira's thyroid re-checked? Perhaps she needs to have her med dosage adjusted. Definitely do not stop giving Kira the meds without getting her thyroid re-checked.

It sounds like a siberian husky is not a breed your daughter should have if she does not like exercise herself. Does she live close to you? Is there any way you can arrange play dates with your dog?

I hope your daughter can find a way to get this lovely dog some exercise. If I remember correctly when Blackie was on thyroid medication, the dose was determined by her weight as well as by the results of the thyroid tests done by the vet.

If that is the case, the dose may not be high enough to control Kira's thyroid problem. She shouldn't stop the thyroid medication because I expect Kira will gain even more weight and also may create more health problems with the accompanying increase in vet bills. She should also get her to take Kira to the vet for re-testing of her thyroid problems as others said.

Is your daughter concerned about Kira's weight? I'm sure you are trying to get your daughter to realize what she is doing to Kira by not controlling Kira's food intake and not giving her exercise. Maybe things would change if you were able to go with her to the vet for Kira's re-testing? Maybe the vet can get her to understand what she needs to do to improve Kira's health.

Thanks everyone for your bluntness! I read them to my daughter and she got quite upset.

Everyone basically said what I told her a hundred times but dad never knows best right?

I agree with each and every one of you -- exercise is the most important and taking her to the dog park once a week isn't enough. My wife was walking her but since the snow flew she cannot (she has a disability). I would have but my GSD Hunter didn't walk well with other dogs.

Now with the new pup, she will benefit I think I will take her with me. Maybe it will guilt my daughter into doing what is right!

Huskies are runners and need their exercise, can you put up flyers in your area for a person who wouldn't mind running the dog? I know I would LOVE to have a dog to run with me, but there are none around in my area.

Well i would say take her back to the vet and find out if the meds are still what she needs, maybe she needs more or something different!

With the exercise i would start out slowly since the poor baby isnt used to it! Walk her, run 5 min ( that's how your daughter will get condition too without pain ) and walk again!
If its too hot outside in the summer do it early mornings or late at night when its cool! If the dog just don't want too because the weather is just too hot, leave her! Oh and i would recommend a harness because if she has fun she will start pulling and that will hurt her with a collar

Hi Norm welcome I can't stress enough the importance of re-testing the T4 I've often had to readjust to a higher dose in winter then adjust again come spring. One side effect to this drug is a dog's thyroid gland will shrink and produce even less hormones therefore stopping would be very harmful.

Another thing heat isn't very tolerated being on this med hence her being lethargic so walking her is a must ... the more she's bored the more she'll sleep the worse she'll get and without exercise & stimulation = depressed doggie

I agree with everyone who's suggested having the thyroid re-checked and more exercise. I'd also be cutting the food back though, assuming that other than her weight she's an average sized husky. IMO 2 cups is more than enough for a dog that's not being exercised. Most of my dogs are running 4-6 miles/day (3 or 4, or maybe 5 times a week), in addition to free running around the farm when I'm out doing chores and they only eat 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups/day, depending on the size of the dog. They range in size from 40-90 pounds, in lean, muscled condition (not huskies btw, border collies, mixbreeds and a huge collie). A couple of years ago I was feeding more but they weren't cleaning out their bowls, they'd have some left that they'd nibble on later. I noticed that my cattle dog X was beginning to take on the look of a sausage on legs and realized that he was the one cleaning up most of the leftovers when I'd go downstairs to use the computer. I started picking up any leftover food and then later began to cut back to an amount that they would eat quickly so there were no leftovers. Now he gets his food carefully monitored (1 1/2 cups daily, split into two 3/4 cup feedings) and it didn't take long for him to begin to loose the extra weight and he's now in great shape again.

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Thanks everyone. She is going to take her back to a different vet to get the blood work re-checked and the dosage adjusted. She's complained about this vet for a variety of reasons and I simply asked why she is still going to him then?

So, after reading the posts to her yesterday, I looked at her (even though I'm sick with a bad cold) sad I'm taking my 3 month old puppy out for a walk, wanna come along? So we walked all of the dogs together

We will see if that lasts but I will try my best to walk her too but difficult to teach a puppy and walk another dog at the same time.

According to her vet this husky is about 10 lbs overweight. I guess she looks a lot more because she is sooo fluffy. Apparently her puppy like fur at her age is the result of her thyroid as well.

I'm trying to get them into skijoring (sp??) or similar as they have great groups up here that do it. I myself am NOT into winter sports lol.

She's very cute You mentioned being aware of skijoring groups in your area. Not sure what contacts you have but in case this might help, check out this site: http://www.skidogs.ca/ Ooh! I just noticed on the home page of their site that Mush Larose is having a skijor clinic on Jan. 31! That might be something worth checking out.

If your daughter does get involved in skijoring she can also keep running Kira after the snow's gone if she uses a bike (bike-joring) or a scooter.

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Beware of Mushers...They will suck you into their addiction!

Kira is beautiful and I'd say she is about 10lb overweight as well. It's hard to get the weight off a sibe if they don't get to run. Do you or your daughter have a fenced yard that Kira and your dogs could chase each other around in? That way you wouldn't have to walk Kira while trying to train your pup.

Glad to hear that your daughter is taking Kira to a new vet for a recheck on her thyroid. Good luck and please keep us updated.

I just spoke to my daughter's boyfriend and they are going to check out that Skijorring clinic on the 31st woohoo.

Norm

That's great! Let us know how it goes. When I posted before I just noticed it listed on the skidogs main page, but just now I went and looked at the details and the agenda. Wow! It sounds like an excellent clinic and very well worth attending. I wish it was closer to us, I'd take my daughter to it. She's been doing a bit of skijoring the last couple of years but is hoping to compete in it this year and the clinic would definitely be of benefit to her. Oh and btw, Heather and Dave, the people who are listed as the contacts for the clinic are very nice friendly people. I've met them at some races and babysat for them while they were competing.

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Beware of Mushers...They will suck you into their addiction!